If you fancy yourself a pretty decent mechanic, as I do, you’ve probably seen a few CCs that you wanted to buy. I bet you have even approached an owner or two to initiate such a transaction. This is my story.
I am lucky to live in Thousand Oaks, CA. We have what is likely the most ideal weather (dry, warm, but not hot…and always sunny) on Earth, and it is a great place for my wife and me to raise our family. It is also a place where many CCs can be found—cars don’t really rust here.
About a mile from my home is a flat lot (here) the landowner rents to contractors who need to park commercial trucks and equipment off-street. So this landowner has a heck of little business—collect rent, pay taxes, keep profit.
Sprinkled amongst the dump trucks, cranes and box trailers is a diverse collection of CCs, each unique. This first one caught my eye about two years ago:
1974 Dodge Charger SE w/440 auto—highly optioned, complete, factory stock
My family had become fans of the television show “Burn Notice”, which prominently features a black 1973 Dodge Charger with a white vinyl interior. This ’74 model is largely identical, save for those little rubber bumperettes and a few other details. I thought I would build a clone of the “Burn Notice” car as a father/son project. But then I checked the VIN. This is a rare “U” code car—which means a very thirsty 440 lives under the hood. Most of these were 318 or 400 cars. I bet the owner would want A LOT for this one….
This license plate indicates the car was last registered during the middle of the Reagan administration—1984!
I headed down to the landowner’s office to ask if he could put me in touch with the Charger’s owner. He gave me a dismissive look, and said “People ask me about those old cars all the time. The owner isn’t interested in selling them. Period.” I am pretty sure that I was talking to the Charger’s owner, but he chose to characterize the owner as a third person.
Some time later, I returned to plead my case…to beg for permission to buy the Charger from the owner—whoever he is. “The owner isn’t interested in selling those cars”. Period”… I was told again.
So, the rest of the collection:
A fully ventilated 1967 Ford Mustang Convertible with 289 V8: Bias ply tires indicate it has been a long time since this car went down the road. No visible mods—even a factory air cleaner under that hood. The door has a little cancer in the front corner, though.
A 1976 Pontiac Firebird with “Super Sport” lettering on fascia (whatever that means—not a known Pontiac trim package), period Centerline wheels and evidence of a hard life.
Whoever dragged these cars here was certainly fair: muscle/pony cars from Chrysler, Ford, and GM are all in attendance. Perhaps AMC’s AMX doesn’t count in this collector’s mind.
But there’s more than just muscle cars here:
1963 Lincoln Continental: What a classy design, with distinctive “suicide” rear-hinged back doors. A thirsty 430 likely lives under that front-hinged hood.
And not only domestics are present:
Hallo! Circa 1980 MB SL represents the Germans.
Hallå! Circa 1970 Volvo 142 S represents the Swedes. I learned to drive a stick shift in one of these.
Ciao! Representing Italy: Two circa 1975 Alfa Romeo GTV 2000s (red car is a roller–no drivetrain–but mostly straight and not rusty. Gray car complete, rusty)
Ah…and what is this little roadster under the camper shell?
Oh my… a third Alfa! An early 1960’s Giulietta Spider. Molto Bello! I bet it would be tough to source that missing trim.
Moving on to commercials:
When was the last time you saw a Ford C-series? This one has an FE series gasoline engine.
Maybe you can tell what this is. I am guessing mid-1930s to 1940s. There seems to be a pump of some sort back there….and a hopper or tank.
Surprise! Does this help? (Note there are only six cylinders here, not the eight that period Buicks are known for.)
I feel like this Dodge RV is winking at me…and whispering “take me….camping!”
If ever there was an RV that looked like a boat, this is it!
Since you read CC, you likely experienced a “What if….?” moment when viewing at least one of these images… “What if I could talk that guy into selling me that _____”?
I will never understand why some guys buy and collect unique old cars, and then just let them sit and rot in some forgotten field somewhere. If I ever find my way to heaven, I will certainly ask that Lambrecht guy from Nebraska that question. For now, however, my dreams about restoring and driving these classics must remain dreams….and I will be stuck wondering “Why won’t this guy let me buy his car?????”
NOTE: Since these pictures were taken in Summer 2014, a cinder block has found its way through a number of the windshields and side glass on many of the CCs featured here. I weep.
That sucks and I’ve been watching this crap since the early 1960’s , weeping .
There was an old , grumpy @$$hole in Lancaster (maybe Palmdale) who had 40 + Metropolitans he collected , at least one was incredibly rare having an over drive tranny fitted , he too refused to sell and eventually some jerkoff kid lit the tumbleweeds that surrounded them on fire , destroying 1/3 of them , even then he refused to sell and instead gave them all to High Desert Auto Salvage who wasn’t interested at all so they crushed the whole lot in short order ~ convertibles and all .
-Nate
Like Nate, I don’t understand the mindset that can’t let go of an occasional car. When I was younger, there was lots of stuff that I was going to get to someday. That list gets shorter and shorter as I get older.
That six cylinder “valve in head” Buick is no newer than 1930 – Buick went to all eights in 1931.
My father in law calls it “Lunch Lady Syndrome.” Certain people will take any opportunity, no matter how petty, to exercise power over others. While most of us would be ashamed of ourselves to take pleasure in denying someone else some small thing or other, these people have a score to settle with the world and if that means taking vengeance on helpless school children then so be it.
They are attracted to town council meetings, committees and politics, among other things.
It’s a sad facet of human nature in one of it’s meanest manifestations, but it happens all the time.
If its a pathology, I’d say its more akin to hoarding. These kind of people always think they “need” their stuff, think its so valuable or rare or some such but don’t seem to realize that all the stuff they seemingly value so much is getting destroyed in their “care”.
Its bizarre and its frustrating to no end dealing with people like that. People in my family were always wheeler-dealers, they’d deal on anything they had as far as cars, tools, machinery, scrap, etc. went. Some people wouldn’t let go of a rusty hubcap at 1000% profit unless it was pryed from their cold, dead, hands. Totally illogical.
You hit the nail squarely on the head. It’s similar to the infamous “cat lady” that seems to inhabit many neighborhoods, except in this case, it’s cars.
What’s sad is when the cat ladies go to work for animal shelters and refuse to adopt them out (because every potential adopter has some insignificant flaw), or when the car hoarders run a salvage yard and refuse to find anyone worthy of their cars.
But then again, it’s his stuff, to do with as he pleases. And a damn shame to see it sitting and succumbing to the elements.
Chuck ;
In The Govt. we called those ” knockers ” as they’ll show up to ever Council meeting and fight against street repairs , anything useful , they knock it and say no .
-nate
We call them CAVEs – citizens against virtually everything.
We used to say knockers, but that got misconstrued due to the appearance of one of the CAVEs.
Hoarders are sad, especially CC hoarders, but the ultimate car hoarder has to be the guy who owns the sole, original 1968 Highland Green Mustang fastback from the movie Bullitt. Every once in a while, there’s a story of someone taking a shot at finding the guy and buying the car. But, like the others in this story, he has steadfastly refused, and is presumably letting the car rot away somewhere in a barn. Steve McQueen, himself, tried to buy the car before he died. I’ve even read where the guy has said he wants to ‘restore’ the car with his son and use it as a daily-driver. Imagine someone butchering that car to that end.
It seems to be some sort of weird psychological thing where they get off on having something that others want and they actually seem to take immense pleasure in the fact that the prized object is in such decrepit condition because of the attention they get.
Don’t know if he would actually be a true hoarder since this apparently is the only car he has.
This link tells more about it. I recall reading something about it in my Mustang Monthly around 2007 recalling how a former car magazine writer had actually visited the car and owner years before.
http://www.bradbowling.com/sample-page/bullitt-riddled/
I think it is, I don’t have a DSM handy, but I would bet there is something in there that describes this. It also makes sense to me from personal experience. In my life, the people who would do crap like this are usually the kind of people who are otherwise complete loosers or fell on hard times and never got out of them, so their Precious they somehow managed to snag is the only thing that gets them any attention.
Its like the town drunk from where I grew up who somehow managed to snag a 58 Fairlane hardtop convertible. People would try to buy it off of him, but no, he would rather let it rot out in the pasture than make a dime. Once cirrhosis took him, someone hauled it away and that was that. By that time, it probably wasn’t even good for parts.
@Nate…Yep, me too here in CT. There was a hermit hoarder in Middletown with a cache of pre-war beauties (e.g. a 41 Mercury convertible) who died intestate with no kids. The town removed all of the cars to be crushed.
I also agree it is depressing. I also wonder why someone would horde old cars and let them fall apart instead of selling them to someone who could restore them to their original beauty.
Because they are afraid of being proven inadequate.
The weirdest story along this line involves that Lambrecht fellow in Nebraksa. He owned a Chevy dealership and stored dozens of brand new cars that were never driven in a field for 50 years. Why were they never sold when new? Even assuming perhaps that he thought a never driven vehicle would be worth a lot of money one day, why did he make no effort to preserve them? He just parked most of them outside in a field to rot in the elements. They did bring a decent amount at auction, but most were in awful condition. They would have fetched much more if just given a modicum of care.
There have been a few reports of eccentric small-town dealer-hoarders. There was the story of Winnie Hogg Dodge, up in Pennsylvania, where Mr. Hogg would not take less than his asking price for a used car. If it didn’t sell, it sat. And sat. And sat. And rusted, and sank into the pavement. When the dealership closed in ’84 they auctioned off over 50 sixties and seventies cars that had been sitting, right in front of a functioning delalership, for literally decades. I found out about it through a Flickr set; google and you’ll find some fascinating photos.
Guy sounds like a complete jerk. At least he didn’t chase you off for taking pictures. The silver lining is that most owners of preserved, restored, and decaying classics alike are very friendly, eager to talk about their cars, and willing to sell if you offer them a good price.
Not a jerk. He has a recognized psychological condition that right now is considered a subset of OCD but may get it’s own distinct category. Hoarding both relieves anxiety and produces it. The more he accumulates the more he feels isolated from the world’s dangers. Of course the more he accumulates the more isolated he is from family and friends. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t. His anxiety was evident in the way he responded to questions about selling one of his cars. Press him and the anxiety will reach critical levels.
“You can’t take it with you” certainly applies here. When these old farts finally kick the bucket, the person who is left to deal with the junk pile (wife, daughter, granddaughter, daughter-in-law…etc.) is going to deal with it the easiest way possible: Sell it to move, or scrap it. And you can’t blame them. Damn old farts.
Hey ! that’s _ME_ you’re talking about ! be kind please .
In truth I realized last year I’ll never be able to finish up all those projects I have packed into my back yard and so began selling them off and giving them away , I have almost so little cars I can park them all at home (almost) and still way too many old Motocycles but about 1/2 the junkyard is gone , all very cheaply to folks I felt would actually do something with them , not other dingbat hoarders like I was for so long .
I do occasionally pull the tarp off something and resurrect it then comes the ‘ fun ‘ of trying to sell it , not easy when you’re a Mechanic who fixes everything but the paint & chrome ~ I clean and polish but rarely do I repaint anything .
My Son and quite a few Locals are quite happy with their new toys and I have ever less crap to stumble over .
Boy howdy were they all happy to discover I keep current tags & title on everything , most hoarders have bupkis , I had the original keys and license tags for most of them .
-Nate
I had THE SAME SITUATION with a decent aged farmer in a nearby village to my birthplace. About two decades ago his yard and barns around his mansion had been overstocked with different cars and from different eras. Examples like an 1957 Olds Super 88, 1969 six door M. Benz W124, 1974 Olds Omega four door InLine 6, 1979 Olds Cutlass Fastback, 1977 Olds Delta 88 Diesel, 1976 Poncho Catalina Safari, 1976 Malibu Estate, 1985 Chevy Beauville, 198? Plymouth Reliant Wagon, 1952 Cadillac Fleetwood (a former presidential limousine of J.B.T.) with bullet holes etc., etc. In some cases the “genius” brought out the original engines / transmissions and replaced them with four cylinder M. Benz, Audi or Bmw diesel engines and manual transmissions. Some “projects” had never ended and the cars stood out in the fields with opened windows to rot. Approx. 10 years ago I had started to bid for the Catalina Safari. Original paint, no engine, no transmission. Everytime we agreed the price he asked for a one more night “just to reconsider”. Next day the price was different and of course higher than the previous day. After few years of ad hoc tryings I finally gave up on him and concluded that the lad really doesn’t want to sell anything. In the meantime some of the cars ended on the junkyard ashamed with sad ends. Is he a good or bad bizman? I don’t know… The Catalina Safari survived and it still sits in one of his barns and only heaven knows what shall happen to it.
OK you lost me. Granted I’m Canadian, but I can’t think of a US president with the initals JBT?
That would be none other than President John Bartholomew Tucker. I voted for him.
When your focus as a collector of anything shifts from using and enjoying whatever it is to trophy-hunting and -hoarding, it’s probably time to re-evaluate. Some part of the owner’s identity is tied up in having a U-code ’74 Charger in his possession, even if nothing will ever come of it, and the car itself is condemned to just sit because he won’t let go.
(I have a small collection of vintage cameras, and if I get to the point where one becomes a “shelf queen” that doesn’t get used, then I have to sell it. Common sense and spousal wisdom compel me. 🙂 )
If I had a lot of land (which will probably never happen as I’m more of a city dweller at heart) I could see myself amassing a small collection of “rescued” vehicles…but I’d like to think that, if someone came along with interest in buying one, I’d hear them out and make the sale if their intent was good. No reason for letting them sit gathering dust.
With these, at least the climate keeps them realtively rust free. But the thought of those original interiors getting rained in after the glass was vandalized? Heartbreaking. Especially that complete Charger! Plus, as has already been mentioned…the endgame in many of these cases is the same. Mass scrapping when the owner dies.
That Merc is an SLC! Looks to be a euro model.
Maybe the owner would rather collect the eternal rent he gets for storing the collection. If they get sold off, no rent for him. I worked for the VW dealer on Thousand Oaks blvd in the early 80’s a couple of different times, it was VW, Saab, Fiat, Triumph, Jaguar. And a 90 miles a day round trip in my old 64 Squareback VW, later replaced by my thankfully air conditioned 75 Rabbit. Thousand Oaks is a very beautiful town.
Yes, this is sad on one had (particularly if the cars have since been vandalized) but on the other hand in Thousand Oaks I expect you can easily find another miserable lot of sad cars with a willing seller.
My experience is it’s either “the lunch lady syndrome” mentioned above or the “I can’t sell just yet because I’ll get more money if I hang on to IT (whatever “it”is) for a while longer.”
With the advent of tv shows that often tell folks “no matter WHAT you think your junk is worth….you have probably UNDER-valued it” folks see no reason to sell today, but plenty of reasons to hold off for a while.
I’m a fan of Burn Notice, too, and wonder how many Chargers the show went through in it’s run.
He won’t sell them because he is “going to fix them up some day,” which means he will do zilch and in twenty years you can buy the Swiss-cheesed hulks from his estate when he kicks the bucket.
Sad.
You can tell by the wheels and engines some of the cars have that the owner knows his cars and likely knows what he has.
The blue or gray 2000 GTV is the one I would take. An interesting fact, Giugiaro designed the car back when he was working at Bertone.
And the red stepnose Alfa is a 1300 or 1600.
Edit: Just saw Sean’s comment.
Another fan of Burn Notice here. Slowly working through the seasons thanks to Netflix.
One of those Alfas would probably most strike my fancy. The blue one seems to be most complete.
All of the people like this I am known it has been a disorder issue either by hoarding or not able to complete their task of restoration. I have never known anyone that does it as a power issue.
Overwhelmingly most of the cases are the same: if the person gave you the car what it would coast to fit it up would be more than you could buy an already excellent example for and the fixer would never be that car no matter what amount was spent on it. Having said that, it is always nice to see another example rescued and brought back to life.
Yeah hoarders accumulators are an interesting breed a friend of mine suffers from this disease or actually I think he enjoys it immensely but due to age he is slowly disposing of his car collection having decided he no longer wants to restore any of them and is concentrating on tractors and stationary engines, He told me recently his overcrowded shed should only house engines NO cars, one car I’d like is a 66 Singer Vogue with a massive 34,000 miles on it since new only requiring a good wash and vacuum to restore to as new, but as I have neither the cash to buy it or anywhere to store some other lucky collector will no doubt end up with it.
Wow, this is a fairly exotic collection, too bad it’s just gonna sit here and rot. The first red Alfa is an earlier “stepnose” model, but my eye isn’t sharp enough to tell whether it’s a Sprint GT or GT Junior. The Mercedes is an SLC – the fixed roof version of the C107. I got to drive a Euro-spec version once, 3.5l V8 and 4-speed manual, very cool car. I can’t tell if this is a European/grey market car or if somebody just added the lights later on.
It’s really bad when you see family members hold on to old cars and trucks and won’t come off them. I have second cousins that have a 1951 F-1, 1968 Mustang, and 3 67-72 F100’s (I’m big into those). The have neither the skill nor dollars to do anything with them except to watch them rot away, but they won’t let them go for any price. Nothing will ever happen to them… they’ll just sit. Depressing…
I’ve been known to hoard but as mentioned above (about others) at 71 I’ll never be able to do a good job again. I let my brothers 1940 Intl half ton go to my Nephew and the 63 VW go elsewhere (essentially stolen). All I held on to was the 57 chev 210 handyman. I actually expect to see progress soon.
Aging is a disease but the alternative is worse.
Amazing hoard. I spend some time on Barnfinds and there is the same level of incredulity at people who hoard stuff like this. I think the latest DSM puts hoarding in its own category, its a growing ‘disorder’.
The usual “Saving for someday” Or for their kids, who end up scrapping them since they see them as “dad’s old junk”. Car Hoarders, essentially.
So many delusional old timers. The see a Hemi Mopar sell for 6 figrues, so they think their old 318 powered beater ‘must be a gold mine’.
Worse, is if a town comes in and takes the property for “enviromental reasons” and scraps all of it.
We had a hoarder here in town, had a bunch of old Volkswagens and a couple of Saabs and Citroens and some other stuff sitting in his backyard, i think there were about 75 cars. pictures here http://tetanusburger.blogspot.com/
The guy I bought my Minx from has thinned his herd of vehicles to 73 now 60+ Valiants and some Hillman Hunters and Avengers plus his drivers.
I knew an old character in Seattle who had the most eclectic assortment of old cars I’ve ever seen. He had a pretty nice-looking 1916 Buick touring car in his basement. He had a 1902 Ford on the second floor of the storage building behind his house. He had a still-new-looking 1936 Ford ton-and-a-half flatbed truck that had so much lumber and other stuff piled around it that the red paint was still nice. He told me he’d bought it new, and the motor had seized because someone put sugar in the gas tank. There were several other storage buildings and garages on the property; one of them had some huge old car – I can’t remember the make, it was fifty years ago. I met him because there were also old license plates all over the place. I eventually figured out that I could no way talk him out of anything if he was feeling chipper, but that he would sometimes turn loose of license plates if he wasn’t feeling so hot that day. I ended up getting a run of Washington dealer license plates from 1926 to 1950 from him, all with the same number. There were no 1933 or 1934 plates in the series though; he told me that times had been so bad those years that he didn’t do enough business to buy dealer plates from the state. I met his wife once; she ran the house with an iron hand, and wouldn’t allow any of his “junk” in the house – well, except for the basement.
Um, erm, that Mercedes-Benz is actually SLC (C107) from the early 1970s. I believe it to be 1972 or 1973.
The tiny mirror is a dead giveaway. Mercedes-Benz did not update the mirrors for R107/C107 until 1975 model year with larger rubber-edged mirrors shared with W116 and W114/115.
The US-spec SLC received the mandatory battering rods, um, five-mph bumpers in 1974. Henceforth, the early American SL/SLC had thin European bumpers with front bumper guards fitted.
The confusion here: the turn signal indicators under the bumpers are from 1974 onward for the US market while the older versions have elongated triangular indicators integrated in the body under the front bumpers. This particular SLC has European bumpers (sans vertical bumper guards) and US turn signal indicators. Hmm…
Of course it is common for the SL/SLC owners in the US to retrofit theirs with cleaner European headlamps and thinner bumpers. Yeah, the wheels are from the 1990s.
that old buick engine looks like it powered whats left of an old gmc truck.
The world would have looked different sitting behind the windshield of these vehicles when brand new. Sometimes when I see pictures of old cars like these, I imagine what these cars must have looked and sounded like brand new. Fresh off the showroom floor or dealership lot -that new car smell, gleaming with fresh paint and shiny chrome. They were probably somebody’s pride and joy at one point. It’s crazy how they end up like this. One man’s hoard is another man’s treasure.
I guess .
Hover , visiting Bobby O’Dell and seeing his once pristine , low mileage fully optioned sky blue and white 1954 Oldsmobile Holiday Convertible allowed to sit top down full of old newspapers , settle into the mud for twenty + years , was *very* disheartening to me .
-Nate
I’ve been thinking about this post for a few days.
I’ve encountered a lot of cars and trucks that have fallen to the “I’m gonna get to it” syndrome.
I think it has a lot to do with the owner trying to recreate his or her “glory days”.
Sean : This is from personal experience which, as always, is unique to each of us. At a certain age you find you cannot do what you once could. Many times you also won’t spend retirement money on things you would have done when working. After several military and workplace injuries it takes me forever to do what used to be easy.
I could see an old guy with a yard full of cars with an intent to get to them someday. Circumstances and denial mean that many of them return to the earth. I’m happy that when I started to feel this happening I started giving them away to others that might use them. He probably didn’t have a big investment. My three classics cost less than $1k total (40 intl/63 vw/57 Chevy.
I envy some of the guys I follow here who have classics and still work on them who seem probably at or nearing retirement age. My llama, donkeys, and goats break down less and are easier to work on. If there was a curbside donkey I would probably follow it even closer. I’m not upset with my situation just trying to approach it from another viewpoint.